Far-right group accused of flying controversial banner over UK stadium

Patriotic Alternative, who have been described as a far-right nationalist group, are said to be responsible for a controversial banner which was flown over Manchester City's Etihad Stadium during their game with Liverpool last weekend.

The offending banner, which read “British to be minority by 2066”, mirrors similar literature posted through letterboxes in the area in recent days which states that 'native British people' will become a minority in the UK in roughly 40 years' time.

Nationalist group Patriotic Alternative claimed responsibility for the flyers on social media which called into question 'mass immigration' and 'falling white birth rates'.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the banner flown above the football stadium, though a member of the group's leadership, Laura Towler, posted a link about the banner to social media. 

The message has also been disseminated by several of the group's supporters.

The banner appears to reference remarks made by British Professor David Coleman of Oxford University who said in 2010 that white British people would be a 'minority' by the year 2066 if immigration rates remained as they were.

Coleman added that the figures would be influenced by mass immigration into the UK, as well as mass migration out of it. 

The year 2066 has been frequently referenced by Patriotic Alternative in recent times.

“On the back it said that the country can’t cope with the rising number of migrants and that we are overcrowded. They talked about nobody being able to access social housing anymore and that it was ruining our beautiful countryside. It said immigration was affecting wages and increasing the cost of living,” said a resident from Burnley of the flyer.

She added that her boyfriend, who is black, became extremely concerned by the leaflet.

“I got angry and actually ripped it up into pieces," she continued. "There were bits of it that were really quite scary to read. We were concerned that other people might not have got this and that we were specifically targeted as my partner just moved to the area but then we saw the story about the plane over the football game.

“We are having a baby and thinking about the world they are going to be born into is worrying. We are going to have a non-white child so it makes me upset and angry to see. We are in a scary world as it is right now. There are vulnerable people around here who might read that flyer and really take that information on board and that is a real concern.”